£47m bid accepted: Riyad Mahrez snubs Roma and agree Arsenal deal

Get up to date on Arsenal transfer news, injury updates, fixtures, not restricting reports on Arsenal Ladies and share your opinions on Goonerhead

Roma have reportedly dropped their interest in Leicester winger Riyad Mahrez, having been priced out and now forced to look elsewhere.

Roma had identified Mahrez as a replacement for Mohamed Salah, who joined Liverpool earlier this summer, and had a bid for the winger rejected. Now according to the Express, the Serie A side have decided to move on to other targets as they’re unwilling to pay Mahrez’s £47m price tag.

Instead, Roma they will now target Borussia Dortmund’s Emre Mor. This could well be good news for Arsenal, as Roma were the only club so far to have made an actual bid for Mahrez, even if it fall way short of Leicester’s valuation. Arsenal, meanwhile, haven’t acted on their interest yet as they still seem to be chasing Monaco’s Thomas Lemar.

Less competition could be a good thing, as it may force Leicester to reduce their asking price for a player that doesn’t want to be there. Still, we’ll have to see if Arsenal follow through on their interest and send a bid Leicester’s way. Arsenal could be waiting until closer to deadline day to force Leicester into accepting less for Mahrez.

A similar plan is unlikely to work for Lemar as Monaco want to keep the player at the club and haven’t received indication that he wants to leave.